Killing of music teacher shocks school

Updated 10:09 pm, Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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San Antonio police investigate Friday August 16, 2013 at the scene of an apparent murder suicide that took place shortly after noon on the city's North Side. McManus said a 61-year-old male and a 60-year-old female were found dead in the home after a call received by police told them there had been a shooting. The home is located in the River Oaks subdivision at 3470 River Path. The scene is still being investigated by police. less

San Antonio police investigate Friday August 16, 2013 at the scene of an apparent murder suicide that took place shortly after noon on the city's North Side. McManus said a 61-year-old male and a 60-year-old ... more

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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San Antonio Police Chief William McManus (center, facing) speaks with the media Friday August 16, 2013 at the scene of an apparent murder suicide that took place shortly after noon on the city's North Side. McManus said a 61-year-old male and a 60-year-old female were found dead in the home after a call received by police told them there had been a shooting. The home is located in the River Oaks subdivision at 3470 River Path. The scene is still being investigated by police. less

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus (center, facing) speaks with the media Friday August 16, 2013 at the scene of an apparent murder suicide that took place shortly after noon on the city's North Side. ... more

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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San Antonio police investigate Friday August 16, 2013 at the scene of an apparent murder suicide that took place shortly after noon on the city's North Side. McManus said a 61-year-old male and a 60-year-old female were found dead in the home after a call received by police told them there had been a shooting. The home is located in the River Oaks subdivision at 3470 River Path. The scene is still being investigated by police. less

San Antonio police investigate Friday August 16, 2013 at the scene of an apparent murder suicide that took place shortly after noon on the city's North Side. McManus said a 61-year-old male and a 60-year-old ... more

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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San Antonio police investigate Friday August 16, 2013 at the scene of an apparent murder suicide that took place shortly after noon on the city's North Side. McManus said a 61-year-old male and a 60-year-old female were found dead in the home after a call received by police told them there had been a shooting. The home is located in the River Oaks subdivision at 3470 River Path. The scene is still being investigated by police. less

San Antonio police investigate Friday August 16, 2013 at the scene of an apparent murder suicide that took place shortly after noon on the city's North Side. McManus said a 61-year-old male and a 60-year-old ... more

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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Officals work the scene where two were found dead in a home in the 11000 block of Buck Canyon.

Officals work the scene where two were found dead in a home in the 11000 block of Buck Canyon.

Photo: Ana Ley/Express-News

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Deanna Tiller, 50, was the victim of an apparent murder-suicide.

Deanna Tiller, 50, was the victim of an apparent murder-suicide.

Killing of music teacher shocks school

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The weekend killing of an elementary school music teacher at a West Bexar County home — apparently by her boyfriend, who then shot himself — left students and parents reeling as they learned of it Tuesday afternoon.

Deanna Tiller, 50, was found dead after she failed to arrive for work Tuesday at Allen Elementary, a Northside Independent School District spokesman confirmed.

Although some staffers worked Monday, students had President's Day off.

The Sheriff's Office is investigating.

Principal Maria Elena Meza sent students home with a letter informing parents of the death and assuring them counselors would be available today.

Parents picking up their kids at the far West Side campus Tuesday reacted with confusion and disbelief.

Meza said the school community was “holding it together like a family.”

“It's hard to explain to your kids when you don't even understand,” said Theresa Pore, whose daughter Gabby is in fourth grade at Allen. “But I would say to my kids that teachers are just like anyone else that can also have problems at home.”

Deputies discovered the couple about 9 a.m. at their house in the 11000 block of Buck Canyon in the Canyon Crossing subdivision.

The body of a man, 55, was in the master bedroom with a single gunshot wound to the head, sheriff's spokesman Paul Berry said.

Tiller, 50, was face-down in the master bathroom. Berry said investigators didn't immediately know how she died.

Tiller's son, 20, was inside the house, and investigators detained him for questioning.

A co-worker who went to check on Tiller alerted the Sheriff's Office, Berry said.

Meza called it a big loss for her school, lauding Tiller as a leader who used technology in her music classes and was “wonderful” with the roughly 500 students she taught across all grades.

“Recently, when our school was renamed, she wrote our new school song and did a beautiful job,” Meza said. “She made a difference in kids' lives and she had heart. She always told me she was so happy here and she really cared about the kids.”

That energy rubbed off on fifth-grader Jewel Herrera, 11, who said playing music and dancing with her teacher made Tiller's class her favorite.

“She was very nice and I am going to miss her,” Herrera said. “I had heard teachers talking about it but didn't know until the letter if it was really happening.”

Berry said Tiller's son saw the couple arguing Saturday night but investigators didn't know if he was home when the shooting occurred or how long he'd been at the house before officers arrived.

Neighbors told deputies they didn't hear any gunshots Saturday night, though a handgun and shell casings were discovered inside the house.

“I've never even seen them go outside to cut the grass,” Gonzales said of the couple.

Veronica Ball, Northside's coordinator of elementary guidance services, said the district would have at least 15 counselors at the school available if any students or Allen employees needed to talk.

“Kids are pretty smart and know what's going on so we can't ignore addressing it,” she said.

Tiller taught the past two years at Allen, which serves predominantly low-income families and is rated by the state as “exemplary” for its academic achievement.

She worked for Northside ISD a total of six years, the first four at Murnin Elementary, district spokesman Pascual Gonzalez said.

On a personal blog, Tiller wrote that she recently became a doctoral candidate studying curriculum, instruction and assessment, and that she had four grown sons, four grandsons and two dogs, Jett and Gypsy, and one “crazy” cat “who thought he is a dog” named Miu Miu.

In her “about me” section on her page, Tiller summed herself up as, “I am an Elementary Music Specialist and composer and a technology geek. I love what I do every day — sing, dance and play!”